Nestled in the heart of the Live Music Capital of the World is a storied Texas institution that put Austin’s comedy scene on the map, paving the way for future comics and entertainers and earning plenty of laughs over nearly half a century.
Long before Cap City Comedy Club, Comedy Mothership and East Austin Comedy Club, there was Esther’s Follies, the Texas capital’s longest-running comedy show that has endured the test of time — and a rapidly evolving cityscape — since 1977. Founded by Shannon Sedwick and Michael Shelton, the vaudeville theater is situated at the intersection of East Sixth and Red River streets in downtown Austin, serving up laughs and troupe-led chaos Thursdays through Saturdays.
Austin’s original comedy club takes shape at Esther’s Follies
Before the origins of Esther’s Follies, there was Liberty Lunch, Sedwick recounted to MySA. The restaurant and live music venue space included a backyard dining area befit with a stage, which served as the original stomping grounds of the Esther’s Follies performances.
What began as a performance art routine, with players accompanying live bands with dancing or eclectic characters, became the framework for Esther’s Follies to come to life as its own concept. Its original space was located in a former bar site with a bit of a seedy back story, including some old bullets forcibly removed from the structure’s walls. Sedwick and Shelton rented the space as a pool hall and watering hole, and thus began the journey of Esther’s Follies…